Nightmare
by Cronomon
Summary: Patti had a nightmare, and looks to Liz for comfort. This is my first fanfic, so forgive me if there's anything wrong please.


Nightmares

A soft rapping noise awoke Liz.

The first few knocks snapped her eyes open, but after listening intently and hearing nothing but silence, she chose to go back to sleep.

When the noise appeared again, she sat up and squinted her eyes.

The room was cloaked in darkness, but as her eyes adjusted she could just see the faint outline of the furniture. Turning on the bed light, she glanced at the clock and found, much to her annoyance, it was 2 am.

"What the hell?" Liz muttered as she prepared to turn off the light once again.

Then, the knocking began again, this time followed by a pitiful whimper.

"Onee-chan."

Liz paused, instantly recognizing the voice. "Patti?"

She slid off the bed and walked over to the door. She opened it, finding her younger sister staring up at her with wide blue eyes.

At the sight of her older sister, Patti began to quiver uncontrollably, and her eyes seemed to water a bit.

Not used to this strange behavior, Liz asked in a soft voice, "Patti, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Patti shook her head.

"Is there something wrong with Kid?"

Again, the younger Thompson shook her head.

"So what's going on?" Liz asked gently.

Patti averted her gaze to the floor. "I… I had a bad dream."

Her older sister stared at her for a few moments, before stepping back. "Come in. You can tell me about it."

Patti, however, shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

Liz blinked. "No? Then why did you come here?"

"I dunno." Patti shrugged miserably before looking up at her sister's worried face. "It… it was scary. And I was really afraid."

Liz smiled and knelt down, drawing her younger sister into a warm embrace. "Well, it's okay. It's over now."

"You don't understand." Patti whispered.

Liz released her and straightened up. "Come on. You can sleep with me for the rest of the night, and if you want to talk about it later you can."

Patti blinked back the tears that threatened to fall, and managed a weak smile that quickly faded away at the memory of her nightmare.

She followed her older sister into the room, and slowly crawled onto the bed.

Liz slid under the covers and leaned back against the bedpost. She smiled down at her sister, already curled up against her. She gently placed a hand on Patti's head. "It's all okay now. Soon, Kid will be yelling at us to wake up, and we can go down and eat breakfast and forget all about it."

Patti didn't reply. She was still trembling, and her breath was coming out in ragged gasps, afraid to fall asleep.

Liz raised an arm and wrapped it around her sister's shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

Patti was silent for a few moments. Finally, after a minute or two, she spoke.

"I had a bad dream. And… everything was so dark. And we were guns, up against this giant demon. Kid was protecting us. But all of a sudden… Onee-chan, you weren't there. You just disappeared. And I was so scared, and Kid couldn't fight, and…"

Patti broke off and buried her face in her sister's side.

Liz rubbed her younger sister's back comfortingly.

After a few more minutes, Patti retreated, and looked at Liz's comforting face.

"You were gone, Onee-chan. But I could hear you, and you were screaming. And I was screaming. And then, I could see." Patti's voice trembled as she continued. "You were hanging there, in the monster's jaws. You were so limp, and bloody, and…"

Here she paused and looked away, as if she couldn't bear to look at her sister anymore. "Onee-chan. I dreamt that you died."

Liz paused for a moment, and Patti glanced at her, afraid to see the hurt and resentment in her sister's eyes that she was expecting.

Finally, Liz gave her younger sister a warm smile. "Don't be afraid, Patti. It was just a dream, right?"

Patti stared at her for a few moments, before nodding vigorously. "Yeah! Yeah, it was just a dream. I don't really want you dead, Onee-chan. I don't ever want you dead."

She suddenly pressed against Liz's body, and cuddled her head against Liz's arm. "We'll always be together, right Onee-chan?"

Liz responded by squeezing her sister gently. "Of course."

"Promise me you won't die, Onee-chan." Patti insisted. "If you died, I would be really sad. Promise me."

Liz chuckled lightly. "Alright, I promise. I'll try my hardest not to die. And you too, Patti. I wouldn't be able to live without my younger sister with me."

"Okay. I promise. Cross my heart!"

Liz turned off the light, and snuggled underneath the covers, her eyes closing as she slowly fell asleep.

Patti also closed her eyes, feeling the comforting warmth of her sister's body, and feeling the relief that Liz would never leave her.


End file.
